Historically,
the metaphor of slavery “was capable of multiple connotations.”[1] It is sometimes used as
“servants of God” (δούλους – Acts 2:18), “fellow servants” (σύνδουλοι – Rev.
6:11), in the singular “slave” (doulē – Luke 1:38), “slaves of Christ” (douloi
Christou – Eph. 6:6) and “fellow- slave” (syndoulou – Col. 1:7). It is defined as “someone whose person and
service belongs wholly to another,”[2] resulting in “the total
subjection of the slave and the absence of the slave’s freedom to choose his action or movement.”
The
two types of slavery concerned with this discussion are: (1) physical/literal –
the actual imposition over a person; and (2) metaphorical/spiritual – “an
inward relationship in which a person is under the influence of another.”[3] Keep in mind that first
century Christianity was primarily influenced by Judaism; therefore any use of
the slave motif would have first a Jewish bent, then the historical
Greek/Gentile meaning. However, Harris contends that the reader should consider
the slave motif within the framework of Jewish, Greek and Roman conceptual
backgrounds.[4]
Based
on the historical use of the slavery motif, we can therefore conclude that the
New Testament (N.T.) neither endorses nor reject slavery, and draws both
positive and negative images from it.[5]
